Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fanfic unless I created it myself. Anything that I did create was inspired by something owned by someone else. This is done for fun and entertainment, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Scenes From a Reversal: Taming Johan: 7-50: As Time Goes By
Romance: Juudai x Johan
Word Count: 1,042
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: 50scenes: Juudai x Johan: winter
Summary: Fifty scenes from a story unwritten, with one fact reversed: what happens when the Gentle Darkness is not gentle?


How long had it been since Baou had captured him? Johan couldn't remember anymore. Time and pain bled together. He might have been here for mere days, or for as long as weeks or months. He didn't think it had been longer.

He hoped it hadn't, at any rate.

Cries of agony pierced the air. Johan shuddered; he knew where they came from. This cell was only a short distance from the torture chambers, and he could hear everything that went on in there. The voice wasn't anyone he knew, and that was all the comfort he could get from it.

I have to find out. It was a small desire, and maybe…just maybe Haou would grant it.

Though he shuddered again to think of the price he would have to pay for it. Haou never just gave him anything.

As if his own thoughts had called up his tormentor, the door swung open and Haou stood there. Sometimes he came himself. Sometimes he sent people to bring Johan to him. As if to add to Johan's sense of timelessness, there was never any rhythm about it.

Johan closed his eyes just for the briefest of moments, then lifted his head and opened them once again. If he had any hope of Haou answering his question, he had to make certain that Haou was pleased with him.

"Are you hungry?" Haou asked, his voice as remote as always. Johan started to just nod, then swallowed for a moment and spoke out loud.

"Yes, master." His stomach tightened at the sound, but not using that word was an error he tried not to make anymore. At least not on purpose. He fought to get the next phrase out. "May I please be fed, master?"

Haou slid his hand through Johan's messy hair. "Again." Johan expected that. He normally begged three or four times before Haou was satisfied enough to let him eat. This time was no different.

Food would come before any requests. Johan would take no chances on getting his food. Haou absolutely would not feed him if Johan didn't beg enough. Johan knew from bitter experience.

So he said nothing at all as Haou fed him rice balls, fish, and tea, taking each morsel in greedily. He knew what came after this as well, and did not resist as Haou pulled him closer and kissed him on the lips.

"You want something." Haou whispered, pulling his lips just far enough away so that they could speak. "Tell me what it is."

Johan moistened his lips for a moment. How Haou knew, he didn't question. He just knew. He was terrifying in his knowledge. Johan couldn't see how the resistance could ever hope to defeat him. It had looked possible from the outside, but now, seeing Haou in all of his mind-shattering glory…

"Speak." Haou's hand crushed hard on Johan's shoulder, and Johan caught his breath. He had to ask now, when Haou was in a good mood.

"How long...how long have I been here?"

Silence was the only answer at first. Then Haou stood up and gestured for him to do the same. Johan obeyed without question; questions could either please Haou or infuriate him, and Johan wasn't sure which reaction was going on now.

Haou led him out of the cell and through a dizzying maze of corridors and rooms, until they arrived at a pair of doors Johan was far too familiar with: the ones that led to Haou's own quarters. He drooped; apparently, he wasn't going to get his question answered. But that was the way of it.

At another gesture, Johan stood where he was as the great doors closed behind them. Shadows enclosed him, ones that sent chills down his spine, and he shuddered. Too many times he'd been brought there for Haou to unleash his deadly seductions on.

That cold hand wrapped around his, and Haou nudged him a little. "This way," he murmured, pushing Johan along. Johan went at once, not certain of what to expect other than Haou doing something to shatter his mind once again.

Pale golden lights, not quite enough to illuminate the shadows but did enable him to see a little more, lit up from the walls. Johan followed the way Haou led, until they came to another set of doors. This he didn't recognize, but he'd never seen all of these rooms. What did Haou have in mind for him now?

"Close your eyes." Haou murmured in his ear. Johan slammed them shut and waited, every muscle tense, a light sheen of sweat springing up across his shoulders and back. If Haou was angry with him, then instant obedience was the only way to stop it. Haou angry meant only mind-blowing pain for Johan, and he'd had enough of that.

He could hear the doors open, and he shuddered as a sudden cold wind blew past him. He wanted to open his eyes, but he refused. He didn't have permission yet…

"Now, Johan. Open your eyes." Really, could Haou read his mind? That would be a problem for another day. He opened them to see…

Haou's castle. The outside of it, which he hadn't seen since the day Baou captured him. Snowdrifts piled everywhere he looked, with more flakes falling from the sky with every passing moment.

"Four months," Haou told him, whispering in his ear once again. "You've been with me four months."

Winter. It was winter. Seeing the snow brought back a thousand memories of finding places to hide that were warm enough, of struggles to find food for the rebellion, of what scant moments of free time they'd had being spent tossing snowballs at one another.

Haou's fingers traced through his hair once again, and he turned toward his captor. If it had been anyone else, if he stood there with Edo instead, he might have tried to toss a snowball. Instead, he just bent his head. "Thank you, master."

He hoped his friends were able to enjoy themselves today. Someone should be able to. Other than Haou. He lifted his head and made up his mind. Haou would accept only one coin from him in payment.

Johan leaned forward and kissed Haou on the lips.

The End